Digging for vanity?

Published: 29 September, 2011

• IN common with many of your readers I am very concerned about the proliferation of deep excavations as people choose to extend their houses underground by building extra and sometimes double basements. 

Almost by definition these extra spaces are not habitable (for normal living) and are created as vanity projects to enable the owners to boast of their private cinema, private pool or private gym.

Most councils have guidelines to discourage this practice and routinely turn down planning applications to excavate these spaces; but these decisions by elected representatives are nearly always overturned on appeal by an inspector who has the power to ignore the democratically expressed will of the local population.

On any cost-benefit analysis these spaces do not benefit the community insofar as they do not enable more people to be accommodated but they do cause incredible damage to the environment, infrastructure and the neighbourhood.

I have created a petition on this matter on the government website at http://epetitions. direct.gov.uk/petitions/

17072 and invite your readers to go to it and vote in order to try to persuade the government to take action to take firmer steps to control this phenomenon.

IMRE LAKE
Regent’s Park Road, NW1